This invention relates to a multipurpose label or business form, and more particularly to a tuck label adapted to be adhered to a substrate such as an envelope or package.
Commercial businesses who supply goods based on customer orders require a substantial amount of information about an order to be generated so that the persons taking the order, filling the order, shipping the order, billing the order, etc. can perform their jobs and insure that the goods reach the proper customer promptly. In the past, multiple pieces of printed paper have been generated either by hand, typewriter, or computer-driven printer and include such things as invoices, shipping labels, customer receipts, common carrier tracking labels, warehouse picking lists, bills of lading, and returned goods forms. Typically, multiple operations have been needed to generate all of those documents and labels. The time, labor, and paper needed to generate all of these items represents a significant cost to a business.
Some attempts have been made to combine two or more of the above forms into a single form or label. Webendorfer et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,939, show a composite shipping label and price tag form. The form includes a pair of side-by-side shipping labels each having a plurality of price tags associated therewith. The price tags are designed to be tucked behind the shipping label which is then secured to the exterior of a package. Upon arrival at a destination, a portion of the shipping label is torn off along perforation lines, and the price tags are removed and placed on items carried in the package. However, the Webendorfer et al composite form is complex to manufacture, requiring die cuts to be made on both the label and release liner plies of the form.
O""Brien, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,167, shows a combination shipping and return label including an intermediate card connecting the shipping and return portions of the label. The shipping portion of the label includes bands of peripheral adhesive. However, the O""Brien label requires that the return shipping label be affixed first to the package with the remainder of the label assembly then Z-folded over it. Care must be taken to precisely position the peripheral adhesive so that it does not overlap the remaining portions of the label.
Accordingly, there remains a need in this art for a simplified operation which can produce a combination label or business form which provides all of the necessary documentation and yet which can be generated in a single pass through a printing device.
The present invention meets that need by providing a single multipurpose tuck label/form which replaces the multiple documents of the prior art and which is imprinted with only a single pass of a printer. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a multipurpose tuck label/form is provided and includes a label ply and a liner ply, both having respective first and second sides. The first side of the liner ply contacts the second side of the label ply and includes a release coating thereon. Through a unique placement of the release coating on the liner ply and pattern-coated adhesive on the label ply, the tuck label/form can be imprinted in a single pass through a computer-driven printer and can be utilized without the need for any die cuts to be made on the liner ply. This greatly simplifies not only the construction of the label/form, but also greatly reduces the amount of paper needed for the multiple end uses to which the construction is put.
In one embodiment, the label ply includes an upper panel, a center panel, a lower panel, and a pair of side panels, with the upper and center panels being connected along a transverse perforated fold line. The upper panel is adapted to be folded along the fold line so that the second side of the upper panel is in contact with the second side of the center panel to tuck the upper panel behind the center panel when the label is adhered to a substrate.
The center panel is connected to the lower panel and to respective side panels along generally transverse and vertical lines of perforation such that the center and upper panels may be removed from the label by tearing along those lines of perforation. The lower and side panels include an adhesive on the respective second sides thereof which are used to adhere the form/label to a substrate after it has been peeled away from the liner ply. Preferably, the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive (either permanent or removable). To aid in peeling the label and liner plies apart, an adhesive-free clean lifting edge on the label ply may be provided for removing the label ply from the liner ply.
To insure that the tucked upper ply is secure and remains in its tucked position, an adhesive may be positioned adjacent to the upper edge of the second side of the upper panel. In this manner, the upper edge of the upper panel is secured to the second side of the second panel until the upper and center panels are removed from the remainder of the label by tearing at the perforations along the edges of the center panel. The adhesive used may be a removable pressure sensitive adhesive, which typically will be the same pressure sensitive adhesive as that used to coat the undersides of the lower and side panels.
In another embodiment of the invention, the label ply includes an additional portion carried on the liner ply adjacent to the remainder of the label ply but separated therefrom by one or more die cuts. This additional label ply portion may be imprinted with additional information which can form an office or record copy of certain information. This additional portion, separated from the remainder of the label ply by die cuts, can then be peeled away from the liner ply and be used or stored as needed.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, a self-contained carbonless imaging coating may be placed on the first side of the liner ply. This embodiment of the invention is preferably used when the tuck label/form is imaged by an impact printing device such as a computer-driven dot matrix printer or a typewriter. Upon the application of an imaging force on the label ply, a duplicate image is formed on the liner ply which can then be used as an office or record copy. Also, coated front (CB) and coated back (CF) carbonless imaging coatings may be positioned on the second side of the label ply and the first side of the liner ply, respectively, such that upon the application of an imaging force, the coatings combine and an image is formed on the liner ply.
In another embodiment of the invention, a multipurpose tuck label/form is provided and includes a label ply and a liner ply, both having respective first and second sides. The first side of the liner ply contacts the second side of the label ply and includes a release coating thereon. The label ply includes an upper panel, a center panel having upper and lower portions connected along a transverse line of perforations, a lower panel, and a pair of side panels.
The upper and center panels are connected to one another along a transverse line of perforations, with the center panel being connected to the lower panel and to respective side panels along generally transverse and vertical lines of perforation such that the center and upper panels may be removed from the label by tearing along those perforations. The second side of the lower panel includes a release coating thereon, and the upper and side panels include an adhesive on the respective second sides thereof. Preferably, the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive (either permanent or removable). To aid in peeling the label and liner plies apart, an adhesive-free clean lifting edge on the label ply may be provided for removing the label ply from the liner ply.
The upper panel and upper portion of the center panel are adapted to be folded along the transverse line or perforations between the two portions of the center panel so that the second side of the upper panel is in contact with the second side of the lower panel having the release coating and the upper portion of the center panel is in contact with the lower portion of the center panel, respectively. In this manner, after the panels are removed from the label by tearing along the lines of perforation, the upper panel may be easily removed from the lower panel.
As with previous embodiments of the invention, the label ply may include an additional portion carried on the liner ply adjacent to the remainder of the label ply but separated therefrom by one or more die cuts. This additional label ply portion may be imprinted with additional information which can form an office or record copy of certain information. This additional portion, separated from the remainder of the label ply by die cuts, can then be peeled away from the liner ply and be used or stored as needed. Also, as with previous embodiments of the invention, a self-contained or CF/CB carbonless imaging coatings(s) may be used when the tuck label/form is imaged by an impact printing device such as a computer-driven dot matrix printer or a type-writer.
In a preferred form of this embodiment, the lower portion of the center panel includes a die cut tab adjacent the upper portion of the center panel. It is preferred that there also be adhesive on a second side of the die cut tab to permit the tab to secure the tuck label against a substrate such as an envelope or package surface. Optionally, a generally transverse line of perforation may connect the die cut tab to the lower portion of the center panel to permit ready removal of the tab to face the panels from the remainder of the label.
The multipurpose tuck label/form of the present invention may be used as a multipart label for shipping goods to a customer. Thus, an address may be printed the first side of the lower portion of the center panel and a shipper""s bar code printed on the first side of the lower panel. A customer receipt may be printed on the first side of the upper portion of the center panel and a return shipping label printed on the first side of the upper panel. In use, the label is peeled away from the liner ply and the adhesive carried on the side and/or lower panels is used to secure it to a surface of a package or envelope.
Accordingly, it is a feature of the present invention to provide a single multipurpose tuck label/form which replaces the multiple documents of the prior art and which is imprinted with only a single pass of a printer. This, and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.